My dad, the Macmillan fundraiser!

[Fu Manchu]

Helped him through Lady Capel's Lock this evening.

 

In the morning he'll be outside of the M25 and leaving the London area.

[Doorman]

Don't mention the Germans, or the war if ever you meet them!

 

First and foremost, and hopefully without becoming a bore on this thread, this guy never ceases to amaze me. If you could bottle whatever he has and sell it, you would make millions. His anecdotal log is always worthy of a read and must surely be getting enough content to merit a book.

 

And secondly, Barry (aka Bazza2) showing the true spirit of the waterways in providing the outboard to enable John to continue his voyage through choppy and perilous waters. We have been helped by people like him in the past and we'll never forget their kindness. Credit where credit's due!

 

Keep going John, you are a bloody hero!

 

ETA The German thing is simply a reference to the old 'Faulty Towers' sketch. I have worked and traded with German people and found that contrary to common belief, they are friendly and do have a sense of humour. :-)

Edited May 28, 2013 by Doorman

[Tony Wonfor]

next blog,

 

bank holiday monday.
once i got back on the canal at cowley , things went quite well untill i decided to share a lock , something i avoid due to the fragile nature of my boat, i was not aware of the fact that the narrow boat i was sharing with was manned by people that were on a training course, i was waiting for my boat to be wrecked , it did not happen but they then went in front of me rather than behind , the narrow boat then drove straight into the bank of the canal nearly taking out a young couple in a rowing boat , at this point i over took them , when i got to the next lock i refused to share , they really got the needle .
while i was just about to leave rickmansworth , i was thinking how dissapointing the south of england was in donation terms , almost nothing , then i was caught up with by ted who is skipper of " trevor " , he insisted on taking me through a lock , donated twenty quid , a very nice man to boot , thanks ted .
as i type i am in hunton , three pubs and no food , no bitter either , so a guiness and a packet of cheese and onion, but the sun shone today.
my boat , if it holds up , and survives this trip, what do i do with it , i wont be using it again , it will be a shame to break it up , i wont be boating in the future i dont think.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

tuesday.

bank holiday is gone , so has the good weather,i cant sit about waiting for the rain to stop, after two two locks i behold a wonderous site , the m25 was totally gridlocked , and i was not not on it, but i sailed under it at four miles per hour , was i chuffed , sad or what.
next i see two chinese guys , fishing , the chinese dont do fishing , but i sussed what they were doing , crayfish , loads in the canals , so number forty seven , lobster surprise , is likely to be canal crayfish .
i then start to wonder a bit as i chug along , why dont they teach kids how to smile and react to people , so many long faces in the south , but its not just the kids.
by twelve my bag of crisps from the night before have worn off, my head is spinning and i am also wet through, i am now getting sombre and pissed off .
at apsley bridge i pull in to a posh pizza restaurant , not my scene , but they do a great breakfast , two hours later i am drenched again , so i go into sainsburys, a large baguette and two dough nuts are consumed , i am now eating " mood food " if there is such a thing .
my carol used to say to me that boring people talk about foood , i do boring , sorry love.
it brightened a bit so off again , i met darren girl along the way , he flagged me down so that he could donate and have a chat, thanks darren.
no one seems to know the exact most easterly point so i am calling it the river little ouse near brandon, sorted , i actually looked at a map .
on dark days my moods kick in ,its not a place i like to be but it happens , not having carol around to knock me into place does not help.
apart from all my delays i am now in birk hampstead ,nice place .
tip for the day , dont have the lobster.
see ya .

[Leo No2]

next blog, bank holiday monday.[/size]once i got back on the canal at cowley , things went quite well untill i decided to share a lock , something i avoid due to the fragile nature of my boat, i was not aware of the fact that the narrow boat i was sharing with was manned by people that were on a training course, i was waiting for my boat to be wrecked , it did not happen but they then went in front of me rather t[/size]han behind , the narrow boat then drove straight into the bank of the canal nearly taking out a young couple in a rowing boat , at this point i over took them , when i got to the next lock i refused to share , they really got the needle .while i was just about to leave rickmansworth , i was thinking how dissapointing the south of england was in donation terms , almost nothing , then i was caught up with by ted who is skipper of " trevor " , he insisted on taking me through a lock , donated twenty quid , a very nice man to boot , thanks ted .as i type i am in hunton , three pubs and no food , no bitter either , so a guiness and a packet of cheese and onion, but the sun shone today.my boat , if it holds up , and survives this trip, what do i do with it , i wont be using it again , it will be a shame to break it up , i wont be boating in the future i dont think.[/size] ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/size] tuesday.[/size]bank holiday is gone , so has the good weather,i cant sit about waiting for the rain to stop, after two two locks i behold a wonderous site , the m25 was totally gridlocked , and i was not not on it, but i sailed under it at four miles per hour , was i chuffed , sad or what.[/size]next i see two chinese guys , fishing , the chinese dont do fishing , but i sussed what they were doing , crayfish [/size], loads in the canals , so number forty seven , lobster surprise , is likely to be canal crayfish .i then start to wonder a bit as i chug along , why dont they teach kids how to smile and react to people , so many long faces in the south , but its not just the kids.by twelve my bag of crisps from the night before have worn off, my head is spinning and i am also wet through, i am now getting sombre and pissed off .at apsley bridge i pull in to a posh pizza restaurant , not my scene , but they do a great breakfast , two hours later i am drenched again , so i go into sainsburys, a large baguette and two dough nuts are consumed , i am now eating " mood food " if there is such a thing .my carol used to say to me that boring people talk about foood , i do boring , sorry love.it brightened a bit so off again , i met darren girl along the way , he flagged me down so that he could donate and have a chat, thanks darren.no one seems to know the exact most easterly point so i am calling it the river little ouse near brandon, sorted , i actually looked at a map .on dark days my moods kick in ,its not a place i like to be but it happens , not having carol around to knock me into place does not help.apart from all my delays i am now in birk hampstead ,nice place .tip for the day , dont have the lobster.see ya .[/size]

Ted is one of nature's gentlemen - I think he posts on here but a nicer gentleman I think would be hard to find. He lock wheeled for us on the Basingstoke trip at Easter.

[beardshave]

He came through Cowroast today-another soggy one-boat was moored above the lock when I got back from the laundrette-but no sign of Ted. By the time I got to my boat to dig out a donation he was away heading for Bulbourne. I found the page to donate on the MacMillan site.

Good luck _ I hope the weather improves

Mike

[Doorman]

I can't help noticing John's comments about the South East being such a sad place where very few people see fit to donate or even raise a smile. Are they immune to cancer down there and have never witnessed the tireless work of the MacMillan Trust people?

 

Who was it said; "it's grim up north"?

[Dekazer]

Nah, none of us carry cash because of the constant muggings. We donate at home online

[Doorman]

Nah, none of us carry cash because of the constant muggings. We donate at home online

 

Ah, the constant muggings will explain the reluctance to smile too then. There's nothing worse than smiling at a potential mugger!

[Dekazer]

Oh no we do smile, it's just a bit wet at the moment We're not as used to it.

[Doorman]

Oh no we do smile, it's just a bit wet at the moment We're not as used to it.

Lol,

 

In contrast to John's observations of people from the South East of the country, we chat to boaters from all corners of the land whilst passing through our northern reaches and tend to have a laugh with most and not least southerners.

 

It could be that once they've sampled repetitive rainy days, massive smoke bellowing industrial chimneys coupled with men wearing flat caps all day long, they realise how lucky they are to live darn sarf.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Doorman

[Nightwatch]

Any more progress news from this gallant pioneer?

[n.b.Goldie]

Any more progress news from this gallant pioneer?

Moored below Slapton lock last Wednesday. Cannot seem to be able to upload pictures at the moment.

 

Regards

 

Ditchdabbler

[Martin Megson]

Just returned to my boat to find him moored in front of me on the Nene at Peterborough. Not met him yet, will try to catch him in the morning.

 

 

[matty40s]

he don't half shift fer a newbie...

[Tony Wonfor]

Just returned to my boat to find him moored in front of me on the Nene at Peterborough. Not met him yet, will try to catch him in the morning.

 

 

Would it happen to be outside a pub!!

[Tony Wonfor]

Sorry for the delay. Have been a bit busy!

 

tuesday.
bank holiday is gone , so has the good weather,i cant sit about waiting for the rain to stop, after two two locks i behold a wonderous site , the m25 was totally gridlocked , and i was not not on it, but i sailed under it at four miles per hour , was i chuffed , sad or what.
next i see two chinese guys , fishing , the chinese dont do fishing , but i sussed what they were doing , crayfish , loads in the canals , so number forty seven , lobster surprise , is likely to be canal crayfish .
i then start to wander a bit as i chug along , why dont they teach kids how to smile and react to people , so many long faces in the south , but its not just the kids.
by twelve my bag of crisps from the night before have worn off, my head is spinning and i am also wet through, i am now getting sombre and pi**ed off .
at apsley bridge i pull in to a posh pizza restaurant , not my scene , but they do a great breakfast , two hours later i am drenched again , so i go into sainsburys, a large baguette and two dough nuts are consumed , i am now eating " mood food " if there is such a thing .
my carol used to say to me that boring people talk about foood , i do boring , sorry love.
it brightened a bit so off again , i met darren girl along the way , he flagged me down so that he could donate and have a chat, thanks darren.
no one seems to know the exact most easterly point so i am calling it the river little ouse near brandon, sorted , i actually looked at a map .
on dark days my moods kick in ,its not a place i like to be but it happens , not having carol around to knock me into place does not help.
apart from all my delays i am now in birk hampstead ,nice place .
tip for the day , dont have the lobster.
see ya .

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

 

leaving berkhampstead wednesday morning, in the rain was bad enough but two locks later , a canal persons worst fear , no water , overnight something went wrong , my boat has only an eighteen inch draught so i was the only one moving that morning , i felt a bit smug.

at the next lock i met paul , his girl friend barbara is fighting cancer as we speak , good luck to her , it hurts a lot to hear of these situations but it seems to help people when i share their problems .
no breakfast again , so i stop in the worse pub in england for dinner,soaking wet again , get me out of here.
one hour later the heavens open , i end up in the second worse pub in england , i hate this poxy rain, sh*t pubs, and the world .
but then i met scott , his two kids , ewan and isla, she had a party piece , she sat in puddles , while ewan opend the gates , well he thought he did, they had me in tears of laughter , thanks kids .
thanks to the lady who threw her donation money out of her window, also steve and his mate who clearly never had a pot to piss in , they gave a fiver , bless em.
water proof boots tomorrow, pub tonight.
tip for the day when pushing open the lock gates in the rain , put your hands behind your back , or you get a wet arse .
thusday.
you know when you wake up and think, "its gonna be a good day " as i though that , it pissed with rain ,this is now soul destroying , and i mean that .
at a lock a guy left the gates open on his exit , you dont do that , so i got the hump , because muggins had to close them, i caught up with him later and as i passed i said " thanks for not closing the gates ", he yelled a reply but the honda drowned it out , plus i stuck a finger up .
boots , if i dont get some i will end up with trench foot ,i walk all around leighton buzzard to no avail , but i got a tap on the shoulder , it was the man at the lock , he was trying to say that the canal people asked him to leave the gates open, oops , me and my mouth.
i leave buzzard , more drizzle , more soul destroyed .
i am doing this report in a pub in wolverton , its karioki night and barry white just got murdered.
tip for the day ,when in doubt , shut your mouth.
thanks , alex and chris , steve and the nice lady who thew her money out of the window .
and jim the lockie .
could it really rain tomorrow .
night all .

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

friday sat.

wolverton was easily forgotten , a sad place.
carols best friend debbie and her daughter are going to meet me at stoke bruerne ,someone to talk to that i know , plus i con debbie to get me some petrol, carols oldest and best friend , and mine as well.
before i forget i saw a vulcan bomber , well it interested me .
as i set of i am freezing my nuts off , by the time i get to stoke bruerne i am down to my tee shirt , my trainers are on the roof of my boat , and looking good , they may get dry yet.
i make excuses not to tackle the two mile long tunnel until tomorrow , three pints will not help my navigation at all.
up to this point it was a nice kind of day , just nice, then they turned up , twenty piss heads on the loose with a large narrow boat ,all dressed as sailors , bar one , he was bo-peep, they announced their arrival by hitting the boat next to mine side ways on at speed , then they hit the lock gates , also at speed , the owner of the pub had to show them how to operate the lock , while i restrained the owner of the boat they hit , he wanted to take them on , dont blame him , his boat was just recently refitted .
a few hours later i am in a nice indian restaraunt , i am treating myself, who walks in , twenty really well oiled sailors , they caused havoc , plus the owner of the boat they hit was outside looking at the menu , at this point i left , i hope he never went in.
no two days are ever the same on these waterways .
thanks lorna york for your information and donation.
sat.
stoke bruerne was one of the nicest setting yet , people just wandering about watching the boats etc.
what woke me up this morning , the loudest fart that you could imagine , from the boat next door , the guy whos boat got whacked , i wanted to roll up , he did not know i was right next to him in my wind up bed , within a mile of this guff i see a cabin cruiser called " passing wind " , i am not making this up i promise.
what happened next was special , now that i can look back on it , i am just about to enter the blissworth tunnel , two miles long and i am told it has a plumbing problem , big time so out comes the brolly ,and my nine ninety nine wilkos torch , bring it on , right hand for steering , left hand for holding the brolly and the torch , no hands left for the throttle so i set it before i enter the dark hole , to say i set the throttle too high was an understatement , my boat flew off , you try shitting yourself for two miles , if anything enters the other end i will have to ditch the brolly , it seemed to be an age before i come out at the other end, harrowing that was , but great at the same time , odd.
what else can this lovely day come up with , how about seventeen locks , all in a row,tip for the day lock number eleven squirts water from both sides of the canal , get your missus to do this one .
after these locks you are then on the river nene , except for northhampton is is possibly the nicest place yet , first lock a very nice lock indeed , but it requires a special key , have i got one , have i f**k, abandon mission go home bo**ocks, f**k it , i gather my thoughts , at this lock i ask norman the owner of the northampton boat club for his help , he conjured up a key from somewhere, cheers norman.
these waterway people will help you even if it puts them out of their way , thanks to all of them.
i now feel like the luckiest man on earth , only one thing missing , her in doors , bless her , she would love this place.
getting dark now , i ask a fellow boater and his wife , where i can find a pub , he suggests the crows nest ,cogehoe mill leisure park, thats where he is off to , i sort out the boat and spend a great night with them and mike and tina , and others what a bunch , plus i am allowed the use of the "SHOWERS" , johns getting a shower , alert the media , i could have stayed in there all day .
enough i am off , i am knackered , night.

[Martin Megson]

Would it happen to be outside a pub!!

Not outside a pub. But the city centre is only a short walk so I expect he found one.

I met him this morning and crossed his palm with silver as he was departing for Stanground lock and the calm of the Middle Levels.

[Doorman]

Even in its raw entirety, always worth a read!

 

Brought a tear to my eye when John mentioned 'her indoors'. Carol must surely be his guardian angel, or she's getting her own back with all of the rain.

 

Don't give up John, see it through to the end.

[steven wilkinson]

Mrs W paid him a visit yesterday morning. What a top man he really is.

[Martin Megson]

He passed me again today leaving Ashton lock on the Nene at Oundle heading upstream.

[Hair Bear Bunch]

Gone a bit quiet...

What's the latest?

[Nightwatch]

I was thinking the same.

 

If, and I hope not, that this has got on top of him and he's given up, I salute this man for his endurance and commitment to a worthy cause.

 

I don't think I could have done the same.

 

Martyn

[steven wilkinson]

I dont think he has given up. Last heard from at Crick, last week though. Engine failure in the tunnel, but fed and watered by the people in The Moorings.

[Nightwatch]

So good to hear. And heartening.

 

Is that a word?

Martyn.

[Doorman]

We too were wondering what has happened to this hero!

 

Great to find that boaters are keeping him well at Crick. It's a pity his journey didn't encompass the Crick Show where no doubt he would have received much support for such a worthy cause.

 

Keep going John.